[Little Brother at 12 months, the first time I let him play with the remains of his dinner on his own.]

When my first son started solid foods, I dreamt of creating the perfect food lover. He was going to eat a variety of foods, all organic, nothing processed. I was going to prove that it was ALL about raising, nothing to do with those pesky hard-wired genes. But as we all know, the road to a very hot place is paved with good intentions. And sometimes I feel like I have arrived in Hell, because despite my good intentions I have a fairly picky 3 year old. He likes: apples, carrots, cucumber, hot dogs, chicken (sometimes), pasta, bread, cereal (not the sugary kind), watermelon, ham, eggs, peas, pizza, peanut butter crackers. Which may sound like a lot, but really it's not when you consider the millions of other exciting foods out there. I should also point out that he likes these things more or less unsullied by any spices or exotic cooking methods. Steamed or boiled carrots only, not raw ones. Pasta with butter and cheese only. Plain bread or if it's toasted it has butter and cinnamon sugar. Where did I go wrong?

Well, the more I consider my boys and watch them grow, the more I have to admit that a lot of who they are is just there, from birth. My eldest loved cars and balls from the moment he could clutch them in his tiny baby hands. His brother? Not so you would notice. The youngest likes music, and even at eight months would start swaying and clapping when he heard a jingle on the TV that he liked. Unlike his older brother (who just bangs away), when given access to the piano, little brother carefully plays with individual notes.

So perhaps my first son was destined to be a picky eater. Then again, I think I made some classic first time parent mistakes when I started him on solid food. I worried far too much about whether he would have an allergic reaction, whether the food was organic, whether he would choke to death on a tiny piece of unprocessed food. The baby books and Internet told me that adding salt and butter to his food was a grave sin and I believed them. They told me that I should never give him more than one new ingredient at a time and I believed that too. As a result, I couldn't follow the common sense advice of my mother to just purée a bit of our own dinners for him: when was the last time you cooked using no salt, no butter or fat and no more than one spice? So now he likes plain food.

His brother, on the other hand, is an omnivore. He's an eating machine and I have yet to find a food he doesn't like. In the last five months, he has eaten curried rice, Hungarian goulash, fish and chips, English breakfast sausages, pork and lemon meatballs, Cranberry and Quinoa Salad with Coriander and Chili Dusted Chicken, roast potatoes with roasted chicken meat, and a load of other adult dishes. In addition, I have been so much more relaxed about the baby food I create just for him, using salt, pepper, butter, olive oil, mint, basil, paprika and even garlic to make them more tasty and interesting. I don't know if it's due to this early training, but he tends to eat very little of a dish if it's missing one of these elements. So I thought I would put together a list of some of the baby food combinations I have made for him recently. There aren't actually 101 of them, but still there are quite a few. And some of them have led to interesting dinners for the rest of the family when I tasted his and decided it was good. (For example, the zucchini, mint and yogurt combination, which makes a lovely cold soup!)

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a dietician, just an opinionated mother. Do discuss with your doctor what your baby can eat before you blindly trust my example. Some children are more likely to have allergies and I would hate to be the cause of a trip to the emergency room.

I use my Braun hand mixer to purée most of these, though now that Little Brother is 14 months old I am starting to mash things more and even sometimes hand them to him as finger food.

Baby food ideas

1) Broccoli, potato, butter and salt

2) Zucchini, a drizzle of olive oil and a leaf of fresh basil

3) Carrots and leeks boiled together and whizzed with a bit of crème fraîche

29) Frozen artichoke hearts, peas and a potato boiled together and puréed with butter, salt, and a touch of lime juice

30) Mashed potatoes with anchovies and a sprig of fresh thyme and a dash of pepper

31) Baby borscht: boiled beets, a boiled or roasted potato and a dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream. You can thin it with a bit of beef broth if you have any on hand.

32) Spaghetti squash, roasted potatoes and chicken with a bit of dried sage.

33) Baby bubble and squeak: steam a few leaves of cabbage until good and limp, being careful to remove the tough center of the leaves first. Purée with a big spoonful of mashed potatoes, butter and a generous pinch of salt.

So what are your favorite tricks and tips and recipes for little ones?

Fifty years ago when my oldest child was introduced to vegetables, I was in a panic. He didn't like any of the things that Gerber packaged for me. Besides, he was unable to burp, so I had a colicy youngun to deal with. I went to my elderly pediatrician with fear that I was starving him. Dr. Barber looked at me in disgust and asked: Have YOU tasted and of those foods? I admitted that I had not and he said to go home and taste them and then season them with a smidgeon of butter and a few grains of salt. His reaction was that they tasted terrible because they had no interesting flavors and it was my job to make them palatable. That boy ate everything. If we took him out with us, he would always order the barbequed ribs or a yummy steak - never a hot dog or hamburger on his plate! Of course it was hard to explain to him why he couldn't have the lobster or crab when our budget was low, but getting him to eat was never a problem. My oldest daughter married a native American whose tribe was allowed to take one whale a few years ago. When she asked an elder what it would taste like, he told her he thought it tasted a lot like seal. Her kids eat everything, too. I'm not sure whether Dr. Barber did us a favor or not!

Posted by Liz Oostendorp on August 30, 2008 at 3:56 PM

I'd say a better idea over BUTTER is herbs and spices. Onions in baby food are great. Skip the butter and SALT is NOT a good idea for little ones. I have always made my own baby food and never really held back on things like onions, greenpeppers, or even a LITTLE garlic. My kids eat everything now that they are older too. But just skip the crappy food like butter and salt.